Just a walk across the world
by Wandering outlaw
Summary: No one said being in the army was easy, especially the Frontier one. With a new World War on the way, and a foe long since defeated on the way to revival. New enemies mark the road to war and new allies pave the path to victory.


Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based novelization, Battalion wars is owned by Nintendo and Kuju Entertainment, please support the official release.

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><p>Staff Sargent Wade Allen stiffed a cough as the 21st rifle battalion came back from their 2 mile run as part of General Herman's, also know as "Couch" to the troops, daily training exercise. Shuffling into the courtyard underneath a watchtower where the top three officer stood, in that 'yard, five tackling dummies waited for them, each one with the Frontier star logo on them.<p>

"War is a contact sport gentlemen," The Couch called out from the tower, "Sack that defensive line!" He then pulled out a megaphone and began yelling into it with his usual aggressiveness, "GO GO GO!"

One of the soldiers near the front, whom was practically tired at this point, being new to the army and all, perked up, rested his helmet, ran forward, and smacked right into the dummy.

He then slid down the prop and fell backwards; his valiant attack upon the evil equipment piece did little to nothing to damage or move it a millimeter. Needless to say, all the other troops let out a small chuckle. The General just shook his head, "NOW LINE UP!"

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><p>"Our boys are getting mighty twitchy down there," Herman said, turning to the other officers as he stepped off the box he used to see over the railing, "we got the men, we got the playbook, WHERE'S THE CONFLICT?" He asked, using his megaphone for the last three words. The other two, a tall black man with a calm demeanor and a younger, much up tippy female with long blond hair, winced.<p>

"The world is changing, Herman." Colonel Austin said, gently tossing a newspaper for the short man to see.

* * *

><p><em>The DMZ EQUIRER<em>

_NEW WORLD ORDER?_

_Marshall Nova Becomes New Leader of __Tundran Territories_

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><p>"WHAT?" Herman proclaimed, eyeing the picture of the new heir raising the mantle of the territories.<p>

"Looks like this truce could last a long long time." Brigadier Betty said, twirling a baton in one hand as Herman grabbed the newspaper and looked between it and her.

"What? You got've to be pulling my pin!" He said, throwing the paper down in indignation.

"Make no mistake General, if we have to fight, then fight we shall." Colonel Austin said, slamming his fist into an open palm to emphases the words.

"In the meantime, our men are getting out of shape." Betty said, looking to the troops who were taking the prolonged silence as an opportunity to take a nap. Turing back to the other COs, she proposed her plan, "How about a little sortie to perk up their spirits?"

Herman put a hand to his chin, the universal sign for deep thought, "A field exercise…hmm…with live ammo of course!" He made gesture of turning his hand into a gun and firing it, "Betty I like the way you think!"

Betty just smiled.

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><p>Allen stiffed a yawn as he stood in front of the fort gridiron obstacle course, he had rumors that the COs were planning something, but as to what, that was unknown. But why did the Brigadier want him out here so early in the morning? A slight buzz came in on his portable comlink, indicating a radio message, pressing two fingers to the right side of his helmet, where it was stored.<p>

"_Come in Commander, This is Brigadier Betty speaking!"_

"Allen here, what can I do for you ma'am?" He asked, well, at least now he was about to find out.

"_Frontier Command has chosen you to carry out a recon mission along our border with the Tundran Territories."_

Allen blinked, so then why was he standing in front of low bridge and barbed wire on the other side?

"_It's been a while since your battalion saw combat so I'm gonna be putting you through your paces before you head out on patrol."_

The only thing that killed the silence was the light recon that passed by.

_Craaaapppp…._

If there was one thing Allen hated, it was physical exercise. The only reason he joined was because of the fact his dad was a solider, his grandfather was a solider, hell, even his mom was a solider. So it was safe to say that he had to be a solider as well. Family tradition after all, but the thing was, he wasn't that strong, so he classified as a rifle grunt. The only thing that set him apart from the others was a keen tactical mind and a above average perception, this made him a good choice for leadership positions, but little else.

"_Commander, you there?"_

"I'm here ma'am." Allen said, shaking himself out of his thoughts and back to reality.

"_Alright then, traverse those obstacles Commander!"_

Sighing as he switched off the comm, did she mean the side with the bridge, or the one on the right, with the two large barriers that you were supposed to climb over?

Shrugging, he went to the one in front of him, it was easy enough to maintain balance on a decently wide platform while running, but when it came to the barbed wire, which was a little tricky. It was simple to jump over it, but the landing was something else. Instead of landing on his feet and moving on, the added weight of his backpack, which contained a basic first aid kit, a trench shovel, a bedroll, rations, and ammo, caused him to fall flat on his face.

Groaning as he summoned the effort to pick himself up, Allen readjusted his helmet and passed the automatic gates into the next area, which held five foam dummies, a slight buzz came in again.

"_Take out all the target dummies and show me you've got the right stuff for this patrol!"_ Betty chimed in with her usual happy tone, _Oh, and Commander, be sure to leave your radio on, it's not like we're at war or anything!"_

Allen gave a slight shrug; she did have a point there.

Taking aim with his trusty M-17 rifle, he made short work of the dummies with a few, well-trained bursts and the occasional reload.

"_Nice shooting Commander!" _Betty came in.

"Thanks, Ma'am."

Moving on into the next area, there were two watchtowers on both his left and right.

"_Let's check your eyesight, solider! Look at one of the sentry in the watchtowers."_

Turning his head to one of the blinking watchtowers, the gates opened as visual was confirmed.

"_Looks like you're in good shape Commander! This mission is a go!"_

For a few minutes, nothing happened. It seemed pretty normal at first; Allen had just passed over a snow covered bridge and made his way down into the valley when a flicker of movement caught his eye. At first he thought it was just a bird going back into the forest, but the closer he got to it, the larger it became nor did it move like any bird should, and then he noticed the goggles.

Wait, goggles?

"Hey, who the—" The ground in front of him suddenly became riveted with small, bullet shaped holes. Another pair of wild shots came at him from the so-called "bird." Reflex and instinct caused Allen to back pedal furiously whist firing until his clip ran dry. His attacker used this time to dash out of his line of fire and took a sharp turn left, behind a broken wall. Cursing whoever just tired to make him Swiss cheese, Allen followed him as fast as he could. Which wasn't all that quick thanks to his gear, but still. Stopping at the broken section, Allen flatted himself as best he could against the wall, and started counting.

_One…Two…Three…_

Almost like a spring, he rolled out and came up into a kneeling position, eye's darting everywhere for the attacker. But there was none. Only a contraption that looked like someone had put three tubas together, attacked a electric generator to them, and gave it fuel barrels. A spy listening device, abet a crude one.

It didn't take a genius to figure out it was a Tundran design.

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><p>It was safe to say that Fort Gridiron's main command center was at least up to snub, if not, more so. The tech's worked around the clock to make sure all the equipment worked properly, the video screens which show a live feed to the battle field, thermal imaging, status quos, etc. It also severed as the main briefing room and Comms. Which was proven when the radio sprang to life.<p>

"_Come in command, over. Come in, this is Staff Sargent Allen; I have discovered possible Tundran listening post, permission to destroy, over."_

Betty raised an eyebrow, listening post? Why would they be here of all place?

She picked up the mike, "Confirm sergeant, did you say listening post?"

"_Yes ma'am. A click outside of the eastern gate."_

The Brigadier's eye's widened, that close to the fort? How long has it been there? Well, better safe then sorry.

"Permission Granted Commander. Proceed with termination."

A few seconds of silence.

"_Destruction done, Ma'am."_

"Well done, Commander."

The doors behind her slid open as the two other CO's came in.

"Did I hear that correctly? Listening posts? This close to the fort?" Austin asked.

"Yep, they're gone now, but there could be more out there." Betty replied.

"I see…"The Colonel faced the screens, "Get some eye's on section 1.8 alpha. I want eye's on the Commander's position now!"

"Yes sir!" The techs started slamming away at their keyboards at the Colonels' command.

"At least now you'll get that war you wanted." Betty told Herman with a slight smirk. The man only scowled in response.

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><p>Allen looked at the now scrapped listening device, it was torn apart, somewhat pathetically, but a small burst of 5.56mm bullets. His eye's told him it was destroyed, so why did it feel like it was still listening in? It was probably just the fact it seemed so unreal that the Tundran had set one up so close, and for an unforeseen able amount of time. The base was his home, and for someone to be hovering around it was unnerving.<p>

Pulling himself together, Allen walked past the second wall, it was the oddest thing though; it felt like there was a slight buzzing in the back of his head. Like he was forgetting something…

Pivoting on one foot, he saw what was giving him the heebee geebees. Two more listing posts, right behind the second wall. Anyone could walk by and not even notice. Like hiding behind a door as soon as someone walks in the room.

Taking care of the two devices and continuing on, Allen was a bit more cautious now about where to look, if they could hide it plain sight, they could hide it anywhere.

Apparently even in the sky.

Allen watched as twin hot air balloons came into view. Having some how rose from what appeared to be an entrance to a small body of water with a bridge like patch of land in the center. Each one was unmanned and powered by gas alone. That be said, they could pop relatively easily. As evidenced by a quick burst of rifle fire without reloading.

Satisfied that he was now the world's greatest balloon killer, Allen pressed on with a steady jog. It didn't last long though; a few seconds of running later, and that Tundran spy appeared again, having been able to get away from him before, Allen was determined not to lose him again.

But, as in the grand scheme of things, as soon as passed by a large rock on the land bridge, the spy was gone.

"Damnit!" He cursed. Just how did that spy do that? Just then, a certain female voice came in.

"_Excuse me?"_

"B-Brigadier! Ma'am, sorry about the outburst, just…"

"_Now now Commander, it isn't polite to swear in front of a lady."_

"_She's a lady?" _A voice that sounded like General Herman came in. It then sounded like he was getting slapped.

"_OW!"_

Allen pitted the man.

"_Hmph. Anyway Commander, have you seen any more listening posts?"_

"A couple of spy balloons, but nothing else." Allen reported back, running to the crest of the hill, he spotted yet another listening device and another pair of spy balloons. Taking care of those in swift order,(and one that was hiding behind a slab of concrete.) Allen made his way up and down the hill, upon turning to the path; he spotted a slab of green in the center of a small, jetty like area. With a bit more hustle this time, he ran over to the body, it was a frontier solider, which was lying a bit awkwardly due the large backpack it was wearing. He was bitterly reminded of an old rhyme the troops came up with:_ When you take a dirt-nap, fall face first otherwise you might break your back!_

"Command, we have a KIA, requesting pick up."

"_Will do, just make sure you catch that spy!"_ Brigadier Betty replied, the usual pep still there.

"Will do." Nobody, NOBODY, killed one of theirs and got away with it. The Frontier may be hardheaded, but the soldier's loyalty to one another was second to none. Spying the killer across the water, Allen dived into the water, swam to the other side, and without drying himself off, ran as fast he could. He noticed that the spy had managed to slip by a squad of four camped around a fire.

"HEY!" He called out them, which inadvertently, caused all the soldiers to jump up like a pack of jackrabbits.

"Sir!" One of them, a female no less, gathered her wits quicker then the others, "What's the fire?" He pointed behind him to the pond, where the corpse of the solider was cleary seen.

"Jimmy!" One the soldiers called out, as though the dead could answer.

Allen looked to his right, damn it, he had lost track of the Tundran jerk.

"Sir, what happened?" The female asked.

"A Tundran spy." Allen explained, "Whose in charge here?"

"I am." She replied, "Corporal Teresa Kruse, Alpha Company." She held out a hand to shake.

"Staff Sargent Allen, you're with me." Allen said, shaking the offered hand.

"Copy that, sir." Teresa looked over at the body with a long stare, almost as though she couldn't believe it.

"Move out." Allen said, running past the gate with his new troops in tow.

* * *

><p>"<em>Commander, we've been receiving reports of a Tundran camp in your area, be on the lookout."<em>

"We see it, Ma'am." Allen looked down from the crest of the hill overlooking what appeared to be two Tundran soldiers guarding a camp.

"Let's take'em out." A grunt, somewhat bigger then the rest, said, either eager to avenge his comrade, or just bloodthirsty.

Allen nodded; a hard, fast strike would be best.

"You heard the man, attack!" He ordered.

It was a pretty easy fight, all things considered. The Tundrans, outnumbered five to two, were wiped out quickly after first contact. The only real problem was the two trapped POWs free, having been captured out on patrol, apparently but a few shots to a conveniently placed ammo dump and just liked that, the two frontier soldiers were back into their light recon where they belonged.

"Thank you sir!" The driver said, quickly checking over the engine of his vehicle, "Just so you know, we saw another Tundran pass by here shortly before you came through, were you following him?"

Allen nodded, "Which way did he go?"

"Just over that hill." The driver pointed to a hill covered with barbed wire, "Infantry can't go through that though."

Allen looked at him, then at his MX-500, "No…But you can." He said, the driver smirked under his mask.

"A score to settle?" He guessed.

Allen nodded, "If you would."

The driver shrugged, "Well, we had order's to check it out anyway, we'll keep an eye out for that rodent of yours."

He motioned for his gunner to hop as he himself got in the driver seat, "When we get back, I'm buying you all a beer."

Allen smirked, "Looking forward to it."

The driver winked at Teresa before slamming his foot on the gas pedal. Shooting past the troops, up the hill, and smashed the barricade.

As the vehicle disappeared beyond the summit of the hill, Allen turned to his squad, "All right, let's head back to base for some R&R."

They only got a few steps in before the radio came to life.

"_What the…? We've got an entire armored division down here! Requesting immediate air raid now!"_

"_Specialist Briggs, say again!" _Brigadier Betty called back.

"_Prepare yourself for defeat, decadent Frontier cowboys!" _An older, male voice came in, broadcasting on an open channel.

"_Tsar Gorgi, your presence here is a clear breach of the terms of the cease fire! What do you think you're doing?" _Betty demanded.

"_Making War, Brigadier Betty. Isn't that what Frontier command always wanted?" _The Tsar voice was full of pride as he spoke.

"_But I thought Marshall Nova wanted peace?"_

"_I think the might of my personal army, speaks for the Marshall's intentions."_

Allen looked at his squad, "Back to base, double time!" He looked over the hill, it was sad to say, but Briggs and his gunner were once again, prisoners.

But he would come back, the Frontier looked after it's own.

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><p><strong>So what do you think? Some may have noticed that I omitted a few parts and radio messages and put in my own. Now, I'll try to be as faithful as possible to the game, but it is a novelization, it wouldn't make much sense for the COs to say "Use the L and B buttons to do a combat roll" in real life now would it?<strong>

**Anyway, read, review, and also, should this be in the advance wars section, or in the misc games one?**

**Thanks for reading.**

**W. Outlaw.  
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